Monday, June 27, 2011

Seen on June 18, downtown Portland

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The red caught my eye as they crossed SW Park at SW Madison in front of the Oregon History Museum at the Oregon Historical Society. I thought how lucky they are to have each other, at their age. I couldn't resist following their progress for a few moments.

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The street barricades stood guard over a row of Chevrolets outside the Portland Art Museum's The Allure of the Automobile and the Cars in the Park display, this particular Saturday it's All Chevrolets. The barricades didn't slow down either one of these pedestrians holding their bags--his from Rite-Aid, hers from Macy's--which mean they've been walking for at least eight blocks with those bags, her with her umbrella open the whole way maybe because it had been raining off and on for several hours; neither one of them even seemed winded, and they've been slowly increasing their elevation the whole way. I'm guessing that they live somewhere along the Park Blocks, don't have a car, and walk everywhere they possibly can. Wonderful.

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Here's where their paths part, just a bit. Why not? The allure of the automobile and all that.

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He's drawn to stop and gaze at the vintage Chevrolet.

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Not for long, though. Drawn by what is surely a connection honed over their years together, he knows it is time to move on, following closely the woman as she heads home without missing a beat.

Now for a few photos of the car that stopped the man, a 1932 Chevrolet four-door special sedan. The placard in the windshield also included this poignant statement of History: Bought in 1972, restoration completed in 2005. Our oldest son wanted to restore it but died in 1999. We wanted to finish it in his honor.

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I took all of these earlier in the afternoon, well before the couple and their red highlights caught my eye.

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